Thoughts & Recap

Demetrious Johnson vs. Damacio Page: Good scrap between Demetrious Johnson and Damacio Page to kick off the broadcast. Page took the lead early with two beautiful hip tosses and a huge slam in the first round. Page saw his lead slip away in the second though and it all started with a shin shot straight his to nuts. The low blow laid Page out for several moments. He recovered, but he was never the same. Johnson poured on the offense from there clearly taking the second round. The third was more of the same until Johnson managed to put himself into position to finish the fight with a guillotine choke.

Joseph Benavidez vs. Wagnney Fabiano: Third time’s a charm. After an uneventful first round, Joseph Benavidez caught BJJ black belt Wagnney Fabiano in three super tight guillotine chokes in the second. Fabiano managed to work his way out of the first two, but didn’t survive the third. He tapped giving Benavidez the submission victory.

Erik Koch vs. Francisco Rivera: Erik Koch made quick work of Francisco Rivera. He dropped Rivera with a brutal left head kick. Shin meet jaw. Amazingly, Rivera was still conscious, but he wasn’t coherent enough to intelligently defend the barrage of hammerfists Koch dropped on his head immediately thereafter to finish the fight.

Mackens Semerzier vs. Cub Swanson: Both Mackens Semerzier and Cub Swanson punched their tickets to the UFC tonight. They went back-and-forth for three full rounds in a fight that rivaled the excitement of 2010’s leading candidate for fight of the year — Leonard Garcia vs. The Korean Zombie. Both fighters landed clean, hard shots throughout the fight but both refused to go down. It was a close one, but the judges thought did Swanson did enough to earn the decision.

Chad Mendes vs. Javier Vazquez: Javier Vasquez did his best to hand Chad Mendes his first loss, but in the end all he did was make this victory a little tougher than Mendes’ last eight. Mendes proved to be the better striker in the fight. He hurt Vasquez several times throughout the fight, but Vasquez did a great job of recovering by sucking Mendes into his guard and neutralizing his attacks. An argument could be made that Vasquez actually won the first round off his back, but it’s very rare a judge ever awards the fighter in bottom position a round, and it didn’t happen here. The second and third round was more of the same, except little by little Mendes was able to break through Vasquez’s tremendous defensive guard and inflict damage. By the end of the third Vasquez’s eye was bloodied up and Mendes had emerged as the clear winner.

Urijah Faber vs. Takeya Mizugaki: With the WEC finally merging with the UFC, it was critical for it’s biggest star, Urijah Faber, to get a win tonight, and he didn’t waste any time getting it. After several short stand-up exchanges, Faber jumped on Mizugaki’s back and locked in a body triangle. Mizugaki tried to dump him, but Faber hung on tight as the two fell to the mat. Moments later he sunk in the rear-naked choke with 30 seconds to go. Mizugaki refused to tap and unfortunately rolled to his stomach against the fence to a spot where it difficult for ref Josh Rosenthal to tell if he was ok or going unconscious. It took a few extra moments for Rosenthal to figure it out but it turns out Faber did in fact put Mizugaki to sleep, likely several seconds longer than necessary. It was a scary moment as Faber let go and Mizugaki stared at the ceiling with his eyes open, but clearly out. Fortunately, he woke up seconds later and all appeared well. Like I said though, huge win for Urijah Faber. You could certainly argue he needs another win or two at 135, but I wouldn’t be surprised in the least bit if Faber’s UFC debut involves fighting for the UFC bantamweight title.

Bonuses $10,000

Knockout of the Night: Erik KochSubmission of the Night: Urijah FaberFight of the Night: Cub Swanson & Mackens Semerzier